Well pump



Nov. 10, 1953 D. T. HARBISON WELL. PUMP Filed Dec. 15, 1950 Dixon 7? Harb/son Patented Nov. 10, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WELL PUMP Dixon T. Harbison, Fort Worth, Tex.

Application December 15, 1950, Serial N 0. 200,967

5 Claims. 1

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in well pumps.

The invention is particularly concerned with improved well pumps for use in oil or water wells, and with preventing the entry of sand or other foreign matter into the working portion of the pump.

An important object of the invention is to provide an improved well pump having an elongate shroud protecting the pump from the entry of sand or other foreign material.

A particular object of the invention is to pro vide an improved well pump having a completely sealed fitting adapted to be secured to the lower end of the pump rods and from which there depends the operating rod for the pump and an elongate tubular shroud completely enclosing the pump so that sand and other foreign material settling downwardly in the well bore is prevented from entry into the pump.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an improved pump of the character described having provision for turning and releasing the pump from the well bore.

A construction designed to carry out the invention will be hereinafter described together with other features of the invention.

The invention will be more readily understood from a reading of the specification and by reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein eX- amples of the invention are shown, and wherein:

Fig. 1 is a view in elevation showing a pump constructed in accordance with this invention positioned within a tubing and casing in a well bore,

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the well, pump, and

Figs. 3, 4 and 5 are horizontal, cross-sectional views taken upon the respective lines of Fig. 2.

In the drawings, the numeral Hl designates a well bore, which may be a Water well, an oil well, or any other type of well in which it is desired to mount a pump. Within the well bore H) is situated the usual casing H, and the production or tubing string 52 extends downwardly through the a casing l I. An insert pump 13 is positioned within the tubing l2. The pump illustrated is of the insert variety with a stationary barrel M connected to a bottom hold down l5. The latter seats in the usual seating shoe it carried by the 5 tubing l2, and a tail pipe ll extends downwardly therefrom to the producing formation. Within the lower portion of the pump is provided a standing valve IE3, and a plunger l9 having a traveling valve 20 is adapted to reciprocate within the barrel. A pull rod 2i extends upwardly from the upper end of the plunger 19 through a suitable rod guide 22 carried by the upper end of the barrel I4.

All of the structure described to this point is conventional and customary, and no right thereto as such is hereby claimed. It is pointed out,

however, that the invention is applicable to all types of tubing pumps, and that the style of pump illustrated in the drawings is shown for the purposes of explanation only. The invention may equally well be applied to traveling barrel pumps, and indeed, to any pump in which the working barrel is separate from the tubing string.

Proceeding now with a description of one embodiment of the invention, there is included an upper fitting 23 having an upstanding axial pin 24 at its upper end for coupling to the lower end of suitable pump or sucker rods '25. An elongate tubular barrel or shroud 26 is mounted upon the lower end of the fitting 23 by screw-threads 21 and extends downwardly from said fitting around the working barrel M. A central axial recess 28 is provided in the lower portion of the fitting 23 and is screw-threaded to receive the upper end of the rod 2!. A diametrically extending rib 29 is also provided upon the lower end of the fitting 23 and is adapted to be engaged with a diametrically extending groove 39 cut in the upper end of the rod guide 22. It is to be noted that the outside diameter of the fitting 23 and the shroud 26 are such as to permit their passage through the bore of the tubing l2, and that such diameters are less than the outside diameter of the hold-down portion i5. It is further to be noted that the fitting 23 and shroud '26 provide a complete enclosure for the pump so that the only point of ingress or egress to the pump is through the open lower end of the shroud 2-6. There are no passages or packed joints in the coupling '23 and a complete enclosure is had.

In the operation of the device, the pump is lowered into the well in the usual manner and seated upon the shoe it. Then, upon reciprocation of the rods 25, the fitting 23, along with the shroud 25, is reciprooated vertically within the tubing l2, and at the same time, the rod 2| is reciprocated by reason of its connection to the thing 23. This results in upward and downward movement of the plunger it within the barrel M and the pumping of oil or other fluid upwardly through the working barrel, through the ports of the rod guide 22, downwardly through the annulus between the working barrel and the shroud,

3 and upwardly through the annulus between the shroud and the tubing 12. Above the fitting 23, the well fluids pass upwardly through the tubin in the usual manner and are delivered to the surface of the ground.

Sand, tubing and sucker rod scale, and other foreign materials are commonly found in well fluids, and such bits of foreign matter have a tendency to work downwardly and to pass into the mechanism of the well pump thereby damaging the same and considerably reducing its working life. With a pump modified in accordance with the present invention, such entry of foreign matter into the pump mechanism is prevented since no path is provided through which the foreign matter may settle downwardly into the interior of the pump. It would be necessary for the foreign material to pass upwardly through the annulus between the working barrel l4 and the shroud 25 in order to enter the pump, and this does not occur. When the pump is in operation, all of the riew is downwardly through said annulus nd no opportunity is provided for the return or entry of foreign material into the operating portion of the pump.

If the well is allowed to stand idle for a period of time, the sand and other particles of foreign matter which settle to the lower portion of the well bore can only accumulate to a height to the lower end of the shroud 2 3, after which the foreign matter would settle into the annulus between the shroud and the tubing. There is no point of entry for that material which may settle upon or around the upper fitting and no opportunity for such material to work its way into the pump after operation is resumed. As soon as pumping again commences, the fluid being forced downwardly between the working barrel and the shroud it quickly fiushes the settled foreign matter upwardly through the tubing string and removes the same from the vicinity of the pump.

In previous devices which have sought to cure the problem which is here solved, there has invariably been some type of joint or connection in the upper fitting and through which sand or scale will eventually work. In my structure, the upper end of the protective shroud is completely enclosed and complete protection against the entry of ioreign material is provided.

The foregoing description of the invention is explanatory thereof and various changes in the size, shape and materials, as well as in the details of the illustrated construction may be made, within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In an insert rod pump adapted to be received in a well tubing and having a pump barrel member and a pump plunger member and means for moving one member with respect to the other member to pump well fiuids, said means including a connecting element connected to and extending axially upwardly from the movable pump member, a sand shroud including, a solid unitary one-piece imperforate upper fitting connected to the upper end of the connecting member and extending radially outwardly from the connecting member and over the pump, an elongate tubular shroud having an open bottom and encompassing the pump barrel, the shroud being connected to and depending from the marginal portion of the upper fitting, whereby the connecting member, the shroud, and the fitting form a unitary structure completely closed at its upper end, and means on the fitting for connection with a sucker rod string spaced above the connection to the connecting member whereby the sucker rod string is spaced above the connecting member and separated therefrom by the imperforate fitting.

2. In an insert rod pump adapted to be received in a well tubing and having a pump barrel member and a pump plunger member and means for moving one member with respect to the other member to pump well fluids, said means including a connecting member connected to and extending axially upwardly from the movable pump member, a. sand shroud including, a solid unitary one-piece imperforate upper fitting connected to the upper end of the connecting member and extending radially outwardly from the connecting member and over the pump, an elongate tubular shroud havin an open bottom and encompassing the pum barrel, the shroud being connected to and depending from the marginal portion of the upper fitting, whereby the connecting member, the shroud, and the fittin form a unitary structure completely closed at its upper end, the diameter of the lower portion of the fitting and the inner diameter of the upper end of the shroud being greater than the diameter of the upper end of the pump barrel member whereby said upper end may be received in the space immediately below the fitting, and means on the fitting for connection with a sucker red string spaced above the connection to the connecting member whereby the sucker rod string is spaced above the connecting member and separated therefrom by the imperforate fitting.

3. In an insert rod pump adapted to be received in a well tubing and having a pump barrel and a pump plunger reciprocable in said barrel, a sand shroud including, a rod connected to and extending axially from the plunger, a solid unitary one-piece imperforate upper fitting connected to the upper end of the rod and extending radially outwardly from the rod and over the pump, an elongate tubular shroud having an open bottom and encompassing the pump barrel, the shroud being connected to and depending from the marginal portion of the upper fitting, whereby the red, the shroud, and the fitting iorm a unitary structure completely closed at its upper end, the upper end of the barrel and the lower end of the fitting carrying a rib and a recess receiving said rib for preventing rotative movement between the fitting and the barrel when the rib and recess are engaged, and means on the fitting for connection with a sucker rod string spaced above the connection to the rod whereby the sucker rod string is spaced above the rod and separated therefrom by the imperforate fitting.

l. A well pump as set forth in claim 1, wherein the fitting and the shroud are of substantially equal outside diameter.

5. In an insert rod pump adapted to be received in a well tubing, said pump having bottom hold-down means and having a pump barrel member and a pump plunger member and means for moving one member with respect to the other member to pump well fluids, said means including a connecting member connected to and extending axially upwardly from the movable pump member, a sand shroud including, a solid unitary one-piece imperforate upper fitting connected to the upper end of the connecting memwhereby the sucker rod string is spaced above the connecting member and separated therefrom by the imperforate fitting.

DIXON T. HARBISON.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 991,600 Bell May 9, 1911 1,384,525 Hancock July 12, 1921 2,049,304 Lloyd July 28, 1936 

